Feeding-mechanism deflector



L. C. STEELE INVENTOR lad-7221662" 6i Sieele.

ATTORNEY Filed April 9, 1924 FEEDING MECHANISM DEFLECTOR 5min 27, 1927.

Patented Sept 27, 1927.

UNITED STATES V 1,643,686 PATENT, OFFICE.

LAWRENCE G. STEELE, PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA.

FEEDING-MECHANISM DEFLECTOR.

Application filed April 9,

. sheets into the tin bath. .Such sheets are objectionable not only .on account of spoilage but also on account of the bad eflect on the tin bath. Apparatus has heretofore been devised for deflecting adhering or double sheets but such apparatus has depended upon the increase in gauge 'to bring into play means for separating the adhering or double sheets. Apparatus of this character is not altogether satisfactory owing to the small amount of movement depended upon to set into action the discarding device. Accordingly, therefore, I have devised apparatus which utilizes the property of elasticityof material to obtain the required separation under the circumstances stated; and, as I incorporate yieldable apparatus in the passages for sheet material, such. apparatus being responsive to resistance to flex: ure of a sheet being fed, not only do adequate movements take place to surely effect separation of sheets but also the act of separation is direct or immediate and, therefore,

i more reliable. For example, in a device for feeding sheetsof metal into a bath of tin, I provide a pair of inlet'feed rolls and upper and lower pairs of outlet feed rolls, the lower 'pair of outlet feed rolls being arranged to feed sheet material into a tin bath, together withryieldable deflecting apparatus arranged between the pair of inlet feed rolls and the upper and lower pairs of outlet feed rolls, such deflecting apparatus being biased in a direction to deflect a sheet forpassage through the lower pair' of outlet feed rolls. With this arrangement, should a sheet having an increased resistance to flexure, such as double or adhering sheets, pass through the inlet feed rolls, the deflector plate does not exert enough pressure to secure sufiicient deflection of the adhering ordouble sheets for passa e through the lower pair of rolls, andsuc adhering or double sheets pass through appropriate guideways and through the upper pair of feed rolls. In this way, it is assured that 1924. Serial No. 705,4Q7.

double and adhering sheets are separated from the train of sheets being fed into the tin bath.

My improved feeding device is not limited in its application to tin baths, but it may be used in any situation where the property of resistance to flexure may be utilized to effect separation of sheets. For example, the apparatus may be used to separate heavy and light gauge material. Heavy gauge material, of course, would possess a greater degree of resistance to flexure; and, accordingly, the yieldable deflecting apparatusv may be so set'that sheets having under a predetermined resistance to fiexure may pass through one passage and sheets having over the predetermined resistance to flexure may pass through another passage, thereby providing for the automatic separation of sheets of material approximately in accordance with the gauge thereof. If it is desired to separate sheets into a large number of groups based on different gauges, then it would only be necessary to provide an appropriate number of separating devices which act on the sheets to secure separation in accordance with resistances to flexure.

My improved feeding apparatus may also be used to determine whether a sheet is hard orsoft, thereby avoiding the tinningof sheets which would be too hard for the purpose for which the tin plate is being manufactured. If my separating device-is used in'connection with plates for the latter purpose, only those sheets having resistance to fiexure-below a predetermined amount are taken into 'the tin bath and those sheets which have over the predetermined resistance to flexure and are hard are separated and may then be annealed after may be tinned.

Apparatus made in accordance with my invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this applica-- tion, in which: i

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary plan view of my improved feeding device;

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional View taken along-the line IIII of Fig. 1; and,

Fig. is a fragmentary front elevation of the apparatus shown in Fi 2.

Referring now to the drawings for a better understanding of my invention, I show a housing or frame 10 having a pair of inlet feed mile 11 and upper and lower pairs of outlet feed rolls 12 and 13. Plates orwhich they lit) apparatus for this purpose will now be described.

Arranged. forwardly of the inlet feed rolls 11 and relatively close to the latter, I show a deflector plate 17 keyed to a shaft 18, the shaft 18 being in turn pivotally supported at its ends by pivots 19. The shaft 18 is biased by any suitable means to tilt the plate 17 toward the rolls 11. For

example, I show an arm 20 extending upwardly and outwardly from the shaft 13 to afford adequate leverage for a movable weight 21 carried by the .arm, the weight having a screw 22 for the purpose of securing it in any desired position along the arm. The effect of the weighted arm is to move the deflector plate 17 in a downward direction to deflect downwardly a sheet of material entering between the inlet feed rolls 11.

A switch plate 23 is arranged forwardly of the deflector plate 17 and it is moved by movement of the deflector plate in order to assist in the proper passage of material to the outlet feed rolls. The switch plate 23 is keyed near to its forward side to a shaft 2 1 which is pivotally supported by screws or trunnions 25. The movable edges 26 and 27 of the deflector plate 17 and of the switch plate 23 are disposed adjacent to each other. The rearmost edge 27' of the switch plate 23 is tapered or sharp in order that a sheet coming in contact therewith may pass readily either along the upper or the lower side thereof. Motion-transmitting means is arranged be tween the deflector plate 17 and the switch plate 23 so that the opposed edges are caused to move in opposite directions. For example, should a sheet of material entering between the inlet feed rolls 11 possess sufficient resistance to flexure to tilt the deflector plate 17 upwardly, such upward tilting movement of the latter plate is accompanied by downward tilting movement of the switch plate 23, whereby a sheet under this condition may readily pass along the upper surface of the switch plate and the guide member 16 to the upper pair of rolls 12.

I show transmitting means between the deflector plate 17 and the switch plate 23 comprised by crank arms 30 and 31 secured to the shafts 18 and 24, respectively. The arm 30 has a plurality of openings 32 arranged thereon at varying radial distances from the axis of the, shaft 18.. In like manner, the arm 31 has a plurality of openings 33 arranged thereon at varying radial distances from'the axis of the shaft 24. A link 34 has its ends pivotally connected to the arms 30 and 31, such pivotal connections being made through any of the openings 32 and 33 in the respective arms.

The link 34: is preferably of the turnbuckle type so that its length may be accurately adjusted to suit the setting of the apparatus. Such a link is illustrated as be ing comprised by end portions 35 and36' switch plate 23 may be so arranged that motion of the deflector plate is multiplied in the switch plate. This is accomplished by setting the link 34 further out from the axis of the shaft 18 than such link is set out from the axis of the shaft 2 1. Motions of the deflector plate 17 and of the switch plate 23 may be made equal in angular extent, or the motion of the switch plate may be made smaller than the deflector plate, all depending upon the setting of the link structure with respect to the arms 30 and 31. Also, for a given position of the deflector plate 17 and with the link structure engaged in given openings of'the arms 3O and 31, it is possible to adjust the switch plate by changing the length of the link structure 34.

From the apparatus described, it will be apparent that plates or sheets enter between the inlet-feed rolls 11 and then impinge against the deflector plate 17. If the resistance to flexure is not sufficient to tilt the plate 17 upwardly to an extent sufficient for it to pass along the upper surface of the switch plate 23, then the plate will be deflected downwardly below the lower surface of the switch plate 23 and between the guides 14 and 15 to the lower pair of feed rolls 13. If the resistance to flexure should be great enough to tilt the plate 17 upwardly and the switch plate 23 downwardly to an extent sufficient for the forward: edge of the plate to pass over the upper surface of the switch plate 23 then such plate will travel along such upper surface and along the upper surface to the guide 16 to the upper pair of feed rolls 12.,

If the my improved apparatus is applied to the receptacle of a tin bath for feeding sheets of metal thereinto, the lower pair of outlet feed rolls 13 are arranged to feed such sheets to a bath. Should double sheets or sheets adhering together enter between the inlet'feed rolls 11, the resistance to flexure thereof is sufliciently great to cause upward movement of the deflector plate 17 and downward movement of the switch plate 23 so as to cause the adhering or double plates to pass to the upper pair of outlet feed rolls, thereby preventing the passage gf such adhering or double sheets to the tin ath. i

It will be-apparent that the deflector plate 17 and the switch plate 23 may be adjusted, due to the variations permitted in the crank arms and in the length of the link structure 34 to provide for any suitable initial setting of the switch plate 23 or for any desired ratio of movement of the plates within the limits provided. It is, therefore, possible to make adjustments of the switch plate so that very little deflecting movement 1s necessary to cause the forward edge 26 of the deflector plate 17 to pass upwardly above the rearmost edge 27 of the switch plate 23, thereby contributing to a very sensitive operation and consequent separation of sheets in accordance with resistance to flexure; The force acting on the deflector plate 17 to cause the latter to deflect a sheet of material may be varied by adjusting the weight 21 along the lever arm 20. Therefore, with the adjustment of the force acting on the deflector plate and the possible relative adjustments between the deflector and switch plates, I- have provided apparatus which may be made extremely sensitive and responsive to differences in resistance. to flexure of sheet material. 7

\Vith apparatus of the character described, if it is des1red to separate sheets of material such as tin into a plurality of groups ranged in accordance with gauges, it is only necessary to provide a plurality of devices such as shown acting in series. For example, the separating devices would be set so as to be responsive to increasing resistances to flexure. Thin sheets would offer theslightest resistance to flexurc and would be separated out first, all other sheets passing through the upper pair of rolls. Sheets from an upper pair of rolls might then be passed through a succeeding pair of inlet feed rolls and then against a deflector plate so set that an increased degree of resistance to flexure is necessary to cause it to move upwardly to an extent sufficient for a plate passing therethrough to pass out through its upper pair of outlet feed rolls In this way,

plates may be successively selected from a lot into a plurality of groups each group being made up of plates having successively'higher resistance to flexure. By separating plates out in this manner, they may be gauged with a practical degree of accuracy and very rapidly, thereby avoiding the manual operations at present in vogue for this purpose.

Another important application of my invention is the separation of hard sheets from a lot having a predetermined upper limit for hardness or stiffness. In this case, the sheets meeting requirements would be deflected downwardly and passed through the lower pair of outlet feed rolls and those sheets being too hard or stiff are passed through the upper pair of rolls and then maybe taken to the annealing furnace for pro er heat treatment. In this way a more uni orm grade of tin plate may be provided for anysuitable purpose and having the desired physical characteristics.

' While I have shown my invention in but one form, it will'be obvious to those skilled in the art that it is not so limited, but is susceptible to various other changes and modifications without departing from the spirit thereof, and I desire, therefore, that only such limitations shall be placed thereupon as are imposed by the prior. art or as are specifically set forth in the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a device for feeding sheets of mate rial, the combination of a pair offeeding means, a normally open guide-Way adapted to guide a sheet from one of the feeding means to the other, and means responsive to the resistance to flexure of the sheets being fed by one of the feeding means for closing said guideway.

2. In a device for feeding sheets of material, the combination of inlet feeding means,

a pair of outlets, a normally open guideway adapted to guide a sheet from the inlet feeding means to one of said outlets, and means responsive to the resistance of flexure of the sheets for closing said guideway and for diverting the sheets towards the other outlet.

3. In a device for feeding sheets of mate rial, the combination of inlet feedin means, an outlet, a movable switch mem ier normally positioned to guide a sheetfrom said feeding means towards. said outlet and means responsive to the resistance to flexure of the sheet for moving said switch member whereby the sheet is diverted from said outlet. I

4. In a device for feeding sheets of material, the combination of inlet rolls, outlet rolls, a normally open guidewpiy intermediate said rolls, a pivoted member isposed across and in close proximity to the exit of said inlet rolls, and a second pivoted member constituting a portion of said guideway operatively connected to the first mentioned pivoted member whereby an abnormal re sistance to flexure of the sheets rocks the second mentioned pivoted member to close said guideway. I

5. In a device for feeding sheets of material, the combination of inlet feeding means,

va pair of outlets, a normally open guideway adapted to guide a sheet from the inlet feeding means to one of said outlets, a movablemember disposed across and in close proximity to-the exit of said inlet feeding means, and means operatively connected to said movable member whereby an abnormal resistance to fiexure of the sheets causes said means to close said guideway and divert the sheet to the other outlet.

6. In a device for feeding sheets of mate rial, the combination of inlet feeding means, a plurality of outlet feeding means so disposed with respect to the inlet feeding means that greater flexure of a sheet is required for passage from the inletfeeding means to one outlet feeding means than to the other outlet feeding means, a movable deflector disposed between the inlet and outlet feeding means, means for biasing the deflector in a sheet-deflecting direction, a switch member pivotally mounted forwardly of the deflector, and mechanism connecting the deflector and the switch member to assure tilting thereof in opposite directions.

7 In a feeding device for sheets of material, the combination of inlet feeding means, a pair of outlets so disposed with respect to the inlet feeding means that more flexure of a sheet is required for passage thereof from the inlet feeding means to one outlet than to the other outlet, adeflector member movably mounted adjacent to the discharge side of the inlet feeding means, means for biasing the deflector member in a sheet de fleeting direction, a switch member movably mounted forwardly of the deflector member, and mechanism for connecting the deflector and switch members in order that adjacent edges thereof may move in opposite directions.

8. In a device for feeding sheets of mate- A rial. the combination of inlet feeding means,

a pair of outlets, guideways between the inlet feeding means and the outlets, a pivotally eas es ly mounteddeflector plate arranged forwardly of the inlet feed rolls, a pivotally mounted switch plate forming a continuation of the adjacent walls of the guideways rearwardly of the outlet feed rolls, adjustable motion-transmitting mt ans between the deflector plate and the switch plate, and adjustable means for biasing the deflector plate in a sheet-deflecting direction.

10. In a device for feeding sheets of material, the combinationof a pair of horizontal inlet feed rolls, upper and lower pairs of horizontal outlet feed rolls, guideways between the pair of inlet feed rolls and the respective pairs of outlet feed rolls, a deflector plate pivotally mounted forwardly of the inlet feed rolls, adjustable means for biasing the deflector plate for movement in a downward direction, a pivotally mounted switch plate extending rearwardly of the pairs of outlet feed rolls, and adjustable motiontransmitting means between the deflector plate and the switch plate.

11. In a device for feeding sheets, a pair of inlet rolls, two pairs of outlet rolls, a guideway adapted to direct sheets from the inlet rolls to one of the pairs of outlet rolls, a second guideway diverging from the first mentioned guideway to the second pair of outlet rolls, a movable member disposed across and adjacent to the exit of said inlet rolls, a rotatably mounted switch member located at the point of divergence of said guideways, a yieldable biasing means constraining said movable member towards said exit, and a link connection between said latter member and said switclrmember.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature this 3d day of April, 1924.

LAWRENCE C. STEELE. 

